There are many things that I have done in a week. One week is enough time to crunch out a five page paper or buy Christmas presents for the entire family. One week can be just one week, or it can change someone’s life. As you may have guessed, I changed my life in one week. One summer week changed me for the better, and I wish everyone had the chance to experience what I did. I spend one week at Northern Pines Youth Methodist Camp, and going there was one of the best decisions I ever made.
It was about May in 2004 when my pastor came to me with a form. He asked if I would like to attend Northern Pines United Methodist Camp that summer, and I was not interested. Church was something that I was forced to do, and one hour a week was enough. He told me that his son Ben was going and since I was his friend, I finally said yes. I really didn’t want to go for two reasons: church and being away. It would be the first time I ever was away from home for more than a day, and I was nervous. I don’t know why because I was going into seventh grade, but I just was. Anyway, I left Caledonia (my home town) one morning and caught a bus in Bloomington with about seventy other kids going with me. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long to meet friends because everyone seemed to be strangers, and we all wanted to meet people.
When we arrived we received a schedule of the week, which included daily events such as meals, church, Bible discussions, and campfires. The week was going well from what I first experienced, and my relationship with God was growing quickly. I felt comfortable with that too because everyone around me was a Christian. I was open to share my religious ideas and feelings for the first time in my life, and was completely supported.
The week continued with plenty of activities like water skiing and beach volleyball, even mud sliding one day. There was also one event every night that we looked forward to. One day was the dance, one day was skit night, and one was commitment night. I actually was not looking forward to commitment night, but it turned out that it was my favorite. Our pastor preached to us all about our faith and how to live. We were also given the chance to commit ourselves to Christ on the front alter, which most people did. I did so with a few close friends, and I never regret it. Since then, I have lived better and have tried to do everything in the way God would want me to. I make better decisions and I have become closer to my family. I chose different friends and have surrounded myself with similar people. My life changed in that one night, and having a whole week of that experience made it all the more memorable.
I really want everyone to have a solid relationship with God, but I know that can’t happen. It’s a shame, because one week might just make that happen. It did for me, and it was the best week of my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment